Diana  Gale "Dee Gee"
Pawlicki, 70, of 503 N. Hillcrest Ave., Bessemer, well-known  local radio
personality and director of the Western U.P. Convention and Visitors  Bureau in
Ironwood, died peacefully Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011, in her home,  surrounded by
her loving family, following a brief illness.      The former Diana Gale  DeVries was born May 5, 1940, in
Evanston, Ill., daughter of the late George and  Rose (Geiser) DeVries, and
graduated from Glenbrook North High School in  Glenview, Ill. in 1958. She moved
to Ironwood in 1959 and began her long and illustrious radio career  at Radio
Station WJMS, then moved to Duluth, Minn., where she worked in radio  and
television at KDAL for one year.      Dee Gee returned to  Ironwood and was married to Neil J.
Pawlicki on June 10, 1961, at the First  Presbyterian Church in Hurley, Wis., by
the Rev. Ed Ketchem. She worked at  WJMS until 1964, when she and Neil moved to
Lansing, where she worked in radio  and television at WILS for two years. They
moved to Minneapolis in 1966,  then returned to Ironwood in 1968 and moved to
Bessemer permanently in 1970. Neil preceded Dee  Gee in death on Dec. 3, 2007.
     Dee Gee was employed at  WJMS throughout the 1970's, and
was director of Big Snow Country from 1980  to 1985. Together with Connie Pricco
and Cindy Franck, she opened the Triad  Agency in Ironwood from 1985-1990, and
in 1988 was the congressional press secretary for  Democratic candidate Mitch
Irwin. She also worked on several  other political campaigns with Triad and
independently with Dee Gee's  Publicity House. She returned to WJMS as the
morning person in the mid 1990's, and  was the director of the Western U.P.
Convention and Visitors Bureau in Ironwood  from 2000 to the present. She also
wrote a weekly column, "A View from the  Bluff", for the Wakefield News-Bessemer
Pick & Axe.      Dee Gee was a member  of Theatre North and acted in
various productions from 1968 into the 1990s.  She was a room mother at
Washington School in Bessemer from 1972 to 1984, was  president of the Bessemer
Booster Club in the early 1980's, and was cheerleader  advisor from 1982 to
1984. She most recently was involved with the Spartan Project  in Bessemer which
she loved. She had a passion for reading, watching the Minnesota Vikings,
enjoyed traveling, and lived  her life for her family and grandchildren. Dee Gee
always saw the good in every situation with an enthusiastic smile. There was
never time for naysayers or negative words, only the positive. She leaves us
with no regrets, living life the way she wanted.  The community is richer for
having her been a part of it. She will be  dearly missed, but her vibrant spirit
will live on in all her knew her.      Surviving are two sons,  Guy (Trina), Merrill, Wis., and
Jeff (Krista), Farmington, Minn.; two daughters,  Darcy Pawlicki, Wakefield, and
Kristin (Jerry) Svoke, South Range; six  grandchildren, James and Mary Pawlicki,
Merrill, Elisabeth, Emily and Kalynn  Svoke, South Range, and Olivia Pawlicki,
Farmington; a sister, Debbie (Don)  Tomczak, Withee, Wis.; two brothers, Tim
(Connie) DeVries, Fox River Grove,  Ill., and George (Deb) DeVries, Marquette;
sisters-in-law, Katy Pawlicki, Junction City, Ks, Donna Pawlicki, Maplewood,
Minn., and Janet Klarchek, Lake Forest,  Ill.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
     Out of respect  for her wishes, cremation has taken
place.      A celebration of Dee Gee's  life will be held Friday,
March 4, at 11 a.m., at the McKevitt-Patrick Funeral  Home, 305 N. Lowell St.,
in Ironwood, with Andy Hill presiding.      Visitation will be from 6  to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the
funeral home, and again from 10 to  11 a.m. on Friday.      To view Dee Gee's obituary  online, sign the guestbook
and express condolences, visit  mckevittpatrickfuneralhome.com.      Arrangements are entrusted  to McKevitt-Patrick Funeral
Home and Cremation Services of  Ironwood.